


Will Build to Suit

by HasturIsMyCopilot



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Peter Wins, Banter, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Drabble, M/M, Post-Season/Series 04, Screenplay/Script Format, peter lukas voice: who's a good boy???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:13:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HasturIsMyCopilot/pseuds/HasturIsMyCopilot
Summary: Statement from an adjacent universe, in situ.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Comments: 5
Kudos: 55





	Will Build to Suit

**Author's Note:**

> caught myself thinking about Peter's old 'high-rise apartment' plan and couldn't pass up the opportunity to write an au where he gets to build it (with Elias' help, of course). is this unrealistic? yes. did that stop me from writing it anyway? watch me.

* * *

**(TAPE BEGINS.)**

**(Loud squeaking, as of skin across polished stone.)**

**ELIAS:** Immaculate, Peter, I _must_ say. Not even a speck of dust to keep a man company. You really have thought of everything. Truly...immaculate.

**PETER:** Isn’t it. 

**(Heeled leather shoes across a tiled floor.)**

**ELIAS:** I never would have suspected you’d have such an eye for interior design. 

**PETER:** Is that supposed to be a joke? 

**ELIAS:** Take it how you will.

  
 **PETER:** I just like to keep my space clean, that’s all. The less lived-in it looks, the better.

**(ELIAS hums an assent. Drawn-out pause, wherein PETER also hums, aimless and tuneless.)**

**ELIAS:** ...A little pleased overmuch with the view, _aren’t we_ , Peter. 

**PETER:** I think I have a right to be. Certainly worked hard enough for it. **(Pause.)** ...Look at it, Elias. The entire world, under an ocean of fog. Drowning in their isolation. Reliving their deepest fears again and again, only to forget them and feel them anew. All alone. 

**ELIAS:** Oh, I am. I am most certainly _looking_. You’ve created a very elegant system for yourself. **(quietly, something akin to a hiss)** But I’ll not have you forget it’s just as much _mine_ to enjoy as it is yours. 

**PETER: (irritable)** And I’ll not have _you_ forget that you’ve gotten your compensation and then some. Yes, you and your Beholding were kind enough to provide the last bit of information I needed for the ritual. Yes, I am grateful; and yes, our agreement will continue to stand, for however long this world lasts. You’re free to come and go, and observe as you please. But don’t _you_ chide _me_ over hubris, Mr. Bouchard. I am the one in charge now, and you’ll find that your little tower can be washed into obscurity just as easily as the rest of it. 

**ELIAS:** _Oh,_ is that a _fact_. 

**PETER:** That it is. Your Eye doesn’t have dominion anywhere Forsaken doesn’t give it permission. Welcome you to give it a try, though. Maybe see what your Archivist is up to, if you like. 

**(A noise of disapproval from ELIAS. Static interference grows. His vocalizations become frustrated, then pained.)**

**ELIAS:** Oh, _bloody -_ ow. _Ow._ Alright - I said _alright!_ ...Was that really necessary?

**PETER:** Did you think I was going to give you leeway on that part of the deal? Because...what, we had history? I’m not daft. It would have been the same if we were in each other’s shoes. Provided you didn’t kill me, which...if you ask me, I think I’ve been especially courteous of you in light of all your help. 

**ELIAS:** I didn’t _need_ to help you. I could have let you start your over-complicated excuse of a ritual and left you to flounder about forever, wondering why The Lonely ignored you after you did _every little thing right._

**PETER:** Just like I didn’t ‘need’ to give you such a generous space to rule over. I didn’t ‘need’ to let you build your Panopticon. I didn’t even ‘need’ to let you live. Once you told me what I needed to know about the rituals, I could have just...woosh. Sent it all right away. 

**ELIAS:** Then why didn’t you? 

**PETER:** I didn’t want to. Sounds foolish to say aloud, I suppose, but I knew I wouldn’t feel fulfilled otherwise. Pesky little catch-22 when it comes to being aligned to The Lonely. Can’t feel all alone unless you know what you’re missing. Can’t miss the players if the game doesn’t exist. 

**ELIAS:** Ah. So I’m your _pet_. Lovely. 

**PETER** : If you want to get vulgar, then, yes! You are, in a manner of speaking, my pet. I tell you where you can do your business, and in exchange for your obedience, you are welcome in my home. 

**(A long, bitter silence.)**

**ELIAS:** How _dare_ you. 

**PETER:** I dare as I please. What can you do? You, Mr. Bouchard - you, _Mr. Magnus_ \- are only as powerful as I allow. And that’s all you’ll ever be. 

**(ELIAS snarls. Quick strides echo throughout the apartment.)**

**PETER:** Doesn’t taste very good, does it? Your own medici - 

**(Rustling clothes. A sharp intake of breath.)**

**PETER:** \- What was that f -

ELIAS: _Damn you,_ Peter Lukas.  
  


**(More rustling, then clattering, then a thump. The tape reel hiccups, and distorts the following:)**

**PETER:** Could you get rid of that?

**ELIAS:** Your domain, your rules, isn’t that what you said? _You_ make it go away. **(sharp gasp)** \- Or. Or I suppose you - **(gasp)** \- you could just _order_ me to. 

**PETER:** **(voice low, gruff)** Then turn that bloody thing _off._

**(TAPE ENDS.)**

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> and then they get re-re-remarried and stay in a penthouse built for one, teehee.


End file.
